While the core production of doing things for your business will obviously take up the majority of your day, Vanderkam says it's also vital to make time for other high-value items, like networking, building skills, interacting with employees, and leisure.

While this routine may not be right for everyone, Vanderkam's sample schedule is a good jumping-off point for fitting it all in when you own a small business:

6 a.m.: Wake up, throw on your gym shorts, and work out

Recent research out of Belgium suggests that working out early in the morning — before you've eaten breakfast — doesn't just help you meet your fitness goals, but could even give you more energy than those few extra minutes of shut-eye.

6:45 a.m.: Get ready for the day ahead

Time to hit the showers, eat a healthy breakfast, take care of family responsibilities, and get people where they need to go.

8:30 a.m.: Do the most important stuff

The first thing in the workday is your core production time, when you should focus on the day-to-day priorities that need to get done for your business to stay afloat.

3:30 p.m.: Take a walk

Getting natural sunlight and a little exercise are great ways to boost alertness and add to your energy level during your midday break.

4 p.m.: Leave this time open

Things will crop up throughout the day that need dedicated time for addressing — now's the time to mop up anything that needs attending to.

5 p.m.: Plan for what's ahead

Figure out your top-three priorities for the next day and if you need to realign anything. Or, if you plan to do work later in the evening, know ahead of time your strategy for getting it done efficiently.

Rick Scuteri/AP

6 p.m.: Disconnect from work

Whether you want to spend time with the family, hang out with friends, volunteer, or relax by yourself, your personal time shouldn't involve any work.

8:30 p.m.: Log back on, briefly

Some small-business owners, and working people in general, find it hard to completely log off after work. Take an hour for mop-up work, creative thinking, or reading for work.

9:30 p.m.: Shut down

Close the laptop, put the phone down, and take a little more personal time before bed.